Dual use bench + bike rack

The Spanish-language N-Punto teen zine are running a bike rack design contest, with numerous submissions ranging from the purely practical to the whimsical.

N-Punto asks people to vote for their favorite design in this contest. They hope to promote cycling as a healthy activity and sustainable transportation for everybody in Puerto Rico, while raising awareness of the need for more bicycle parking in urban areas.

This design combines benches with bike parking to maximize space and making the bike parking more integrated into everyday urban life. The designer, Ariana Hernandez, also hopes this design can minimize bike theft; potential thieves won’t know if the person on the bench owns one of the locked bikes or not.

Combining benches with bike parking seems to be a common theme in this Puerto Rican design competition. The Urban Stool (left, below) combines a single seating spot with space for four bikes. The Loop (center) combines a single seat with parking for three bikes. B-Parked (right) is a bench with bike parking attached at both ends.

Another interesting entry is this “Oblique” design, which combines steel tubes into a set of triangles. By itself, it’s an abstract sculpture that changes shape depending on the viewing angle, but the design can take up to four bicycles as well, according to the designer.

View the entire collection here. I find it revealing to read the designer comments with each rack, too. The “Loop” design, for example, includes details about compatible locks and the desire to minimize sidewalk space while maximizing available bike parking and seating space. The rack is placed such that the bikes are locked parallel to the flow of pedestrian traffic, instead of jutting out at right angles where they become obstructions.

Via Ariana Hernandez, who submitted the “Bench Rack” design and asks you to vote for #26.